Ataya Attire empowering young women in the Gambia

A
British born Jamaican and now Senegalese entrepreneur Saadiya Sy has recently
initiated a project called Attaya Attire.The project is expected to create an environment where economic growth
and poverty reduction will be promoted through enhancing productive capacity
and social protection of young women in the country.

It
will provide skills training and capacity building programs for young women in
tailoring and weaving (making luxury accessories and home wears from waste
materials like plastic and rubber). The project is also expected to empower
thousands of young women in the country especially those in the rural
communities.

Speaking
to this reporter, Saadiya expressed grave concern on some of the issues
affecting young people in the country.She emphasized her commitment to create
more opportunities for young women.

“A
lot of young people are marginalised especially women. This project will create
more opportunities and further empower young women through capacity building
and skill training programs. We are committed to helping young women in the
country,” she said.

Waste
management is a burning issue in The Gambia. In fact, it has recently form part
of the political agenda of some political parties and Saadiya believes that her
project can play a crucial part in addressing waste problems in the country.

“Our
target is to work with women between the ages of 18-32 years in tailoring and
weaving. The idea is to make luxury accessories and home wears from waste
materials. This will help to improve the waste management system and create
business opportunities for women.”

The
Attaya Attire project is part of Women Initiative Gambia (W.I.G). The
initiative, founded by Isatou Ceesay, conducts skills training; mothers’ group
programs, waste collection and tree planting exercises.

The
initiative aims to improve the lives of young women in the country through
skills training in tailoring and weaving - making luxury accessories and home
wears from waste material.

The
Gambia is one of the poorest countries in the world with a per capita of about
US$ 350 (National Household Survey report) and a rating of 155 out of 175
countries (UNDP Human Development Index). The condition of young women in the
Gambia is worse than their male counterpart, as they lag behind in all spheres
of development.

The
Government and its partners initiated several credit programmes to boost the
productive capacity of women. Some notable ones among these are the Social
Development Fund (SDF), Women In Development, NGO Fund, Gambia Women Finance
Association (GAWFA), Rural Finance and Community Initiative Project (RFCIP),
Peri-Urban Project, NGOs such as Action Aid The Gambia (AATG), Association of
Gambian Entrepreneurs (AGE) amongst others. These institutions together are
only able to meet 55 percent of the credit needs of women in the Gambia.